Pledges totalling almost £1m were made towards the cost of a new care home for journalists in 2005, in a year of great change for the Journalists’ Charity.

It also changed its name from the Newspaper Press Fund and demolished the 35-year-old home Sandy Cross, and even bigger challenges lay ahead with another £4m left to raise.

Work has now begun on rebuilding the care home into new nursing accommodation with room for 20 residents, and there are also plans to develop sheltered accomodation at adjacent site Aitken House.

In the charity’s annual report, chairman Nick Jones said it was dedicated to caring for journalists working in an expanding media industry.

He said: “At last we have a name which retains our long association with the newspaper industry but which we hope will catch the attention – and support – of the many journalists who now work in expanding areas such as television, radio, websites and the many new services which are developing ever imaginative ways to deliver news, information and comment.”

He added: “As a group of trustees we are determined to do all we can to care for the next generation of journalists who might need to be housed at our estate of sheltered flats and bungalows at Ribblesdale or require nursing care in a state-of-the-art home which will have all the latest facilities needed to support those with mental frailies.

“We would like to extend our thanks for the generous pledges of financial support which we have already received from groups such as News International, Harmsworth and Daily Mail trusts and the Daily Telegraph. We are also grateful for the fundraising efforts being made on our behalf by groups representing journalists and others in the news media.

“…We have a very long way to go: £1m was allocated from our own funds and we have received pledges for £1m but we have to raise another £4m as we are determined to protect our core charitable work of giving financial help to needy journalists and their dependants whom we are currently assisting with grants totalling nearly £250,000 a year.”

Much fundraising is done by regional branches such as the West Midlands, which raised £18,000 from its Annual Celebrity Luncheon, where Michael Buerk was guest speaker.

In Glasgow and the West of Scotland, £50,000 was raised through a number of events during the year, and district chairman Alan Rennie handed over a cheque at its St Andrews Night Dinner on November 30.